It is a blog that aims to collect, generate, analyze, organize,
present and interpret quantitative information related to the animal
advocacy movement. Occasionally, it will employ tools and insights
from computer science and mathematics to discover facts pertinent to
the animal advocacy movement. From time to time, it may also make
number-related nerdy observations of no use to anybody.

By the way, here is an interview
about Counting Animals by Erin O’Sullivan of Animal Voices which aired
on the CIUT radio station based in Toronto, Canada, on Tuesday, June
10, 2014.

How does quantitative data help anyone?

Numbers have a way of cutting through hype, myths and dogmas whether
generated by elements within the animal advocacy movement or promoted
by the opponents of the movement. Well-sourced quantitative information
has a role to play in building convincing arguments, producing
dependable literature, choosing effective forms of activism and
promoting a credible image of the movement in the public sphere. For
example, numbers alone may not persuade an individual to cause less
animal suffering but they can guide an animal advocacy organization in
developing effective strategies to persuade individuals to cause less
animal suffering.

What do you mean by the animal advocacy movement?

I am using the term ‘animal advocacy’ broadly to include everything
that may be described by people as animal welfare, animal protection,
animal liberation or animal rights.

Is your blog a neutral look at the animal advocacy movement? Or, does
it have a point of view?

It has a point of view.

But, data is data and bias cannot change well-sourced quantitative
data. So, your blog cannot be said to have a bias or a point of view.

Not really. A collection of data is almost always biased by the
means used to collect, filter, and organize it even before it is
presented and interpreted. For example, in my post on vegan and
vegetarian book titles, I made the decision to not count as books
research reports that each cost $795. I decided to not count bound
volumes of magazines. In my mind, these are not what people normally
mean when they use the term ‘book’. However, someone else with a
different set of prejudices about what counts as a book may have
decided differently. So, there is usually bias in any collection of
data. No interpretation of data can be entirely relied upon without
understanding the bias behind the data.

How can anybody avoid such bias?

You cannot avoid bias in data but you can do your best to be aware of
it. There are prejudices you know you have, there are prejudices you
know you don’t have and there are prejudices you don’t know you have
(thank you, Rummy!). Each post in this blog will declare all the
prejudices I know I have when I present the data in the post (for
example, about what I count as a book). My hope is that the readers of
this blog will enlighten me on the prejudices I do not know I have.

Now, about what is on the site. Is there a pattern to the numbers on
the banner of the web site?

Yes!

I love the quote you have at the bottom on the left side of the
blog. It is a strange quote on a blog that declares a love of
numbers.

Yes, because there is a limit to how much numbers can help us
understand things we want to understand. Quantification can sometimes
oversimplify complex pieces of information in ways that can be
misleading. The quote is a caution against over-interpreting
quantitative data.

So, I can see why, not everything that can be counted counts. But, what
is an example of something that counts but cannot be counted?

I have the help of my best friend, Denise, in more ways than I know
how to count.

Thank you all for the kind comments! Also, I just added an RSS feed and an e-mail subscription option.

Mark

3 years, 7 months ago

Love the blog. Here's my selfish question for a future post: How many cows are killed a year because of the dairy industry?

I've got an idea for my first tattoo: a cow with a number on her side. It's intended to be a conversation starter? "What's that?" "Oh, it's the number of cows killed each year for milk and cheese." People often still think no one dies for dairy.

So anyway, I figure this number would include veal calves and spent dairy cows. But I don't see these numbers in any obvious place so this would perhaps be great fodder for a post!

Harish

3 years, 7 months ago

Thanks for that question, Mark. Yes, I will plan a post around your question. Coincidentally, my latest (third) post happens to also be on cows used for dairy!

Joel

3 years, 7 months ago

Thank you for this new blog, Harish. What a wonderful idea. And you are executing it admirably. Now, here's an issue I hope you will take up -- really the most obvious one, although not at all a simple one. Just how many nonhuman animals are we talking about? Total. That would include worldwide, of course, and in categories such as food, experimentation, hunting, clothing, puppy mills and kill shelters, habitat destruction (tough one!), etc. ad inf. There are many occasions when I want to cite figures about these things -- especially re eating animals and animal products. And I have found a number of Websites which give statistics. But most useful, for both scholarly purposes and impressing critical thinkers of all stripes in legislatures, journalism, etc., would be not only the numbers but also the sources of those numbers (and some analysis, of course). Some of the sites I use do also give sources, but they usually do not make it Internet-easy to check the sources themselves. So this is both a huge project and one that needs to be carried out with precision and an eye to user-friendliness. You may be just the person to do it! Thanks -- Joel

Mick

3 years, 7 months ago

I've had to do a little finangling to get these posts to print. Could you including a "print it" button? Another option would be to make .pdf's of your posts and have the graphs in those.

John Maher

3 years, 6 months ago

Excelent start. This blog looks like it will fast become one of my favorites for the complete lack of bullshit. Stay on course and deliver the goods

Harish

3 years, 6 months ago

Mick, I am sorry I may not be able to add a print button. I have not yet found any software library that reliably converts JavaScript code on a web site into pdf. Even Adobe's Acrobat, which claims to capture web sites into pdf files, fails on most JavaScript code. Since I am expecting many of my graphics to be interactive (especially in future posts), I have to use JavaScript instead of static image files.

As of now, good old screen capture seems like is the best option. If I run into a better solution, I will be sure to add the print button!

HT

3 years, 5 months ago

Congratulations!! The concept is just wonderfully unique. You are getting deep emotional points across with graphs. WOW. I can't properly say how impressed I am. WOW again.

Sandeep Sibal

3 years, 5 months ago

Terrific work. Through this website, we take a step closer to what da Vinci envisioned: "The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men."

Charlie Talbert

3 years ago

Thanks for using your gifts on the side of Good!

Eddie R

2 years, 2 months ago

Great site Harish. It's Eddie from Woodstock (WARM). Excellent research and observations. I'm hooked.

Rachel

1 year, 11 months ago

Holy heck I just now found this site. I LOVE IT!!

Penny

1 year, 3 months ago

An interesting numbers question came to mind while at breakfast the other day. The couple next to me each had a breakfast consisting of: French toast, eggs, sausage, ham and bacon. Yes, unbelievable but true. They both ordered multi grain toast which was a bit of a chuckle for me, but didn't eat it until they had buttered it with 'cretons' (a French Canadian fatty meat spread.)They had butter on the toast and milk in their coffee. My question is : between the dairy, egg and meat products, how many different animals might have involved in this breakfast they ate?

Karen Johnson - The Elated Vegan

11 months, 2 weeks ago

Hello Harish, I know you try to limit your posts to only have quality content, but I'm really looking forward to the next one! When do you plan to bring out another one? Thanks for everything you do. I always share your articles they are excellent!

Harish

11 months, 2 weeks ago

Thank you, Karen, for noticing the 6-month hiatus! Sorry!

Yes, many new posts are in the works—some which have required far more research than others—but, they are coming!

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